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How To Become An Apprentice Developer

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Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#11

Post by ninetax »

avolcano wrote: post #10

Gotta say, as a sophomore who's been debating dropping out college, that these junior positions exist at all is encouraging. I always thought my trajectory would be to go to my current school, transfer to a better one, get some good internships, and graduate with a CS degree. But my grades aren't where they need to be, so I probably won't be able to transfer to a good school. Honestly I've been concerned whether or n…

We are really fortunate that CS skills are in such high demand. That this is even an option is pretty amazing. However, the day may come when the market turns down and the thing that makes an employer hire the next guy and not you is a piece of paper that says he stuck it out in college. Good luck whatever you do!

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#12

Post by nhangen »

xiaoma wrote: post #7
nhangen wrote: post #5

I also had struggles trying to find work as a jr dev, so eventually I gave up to start building my own software and work on the consulting side. It's strange because I see a lot of jr. guys/gals struggle to find mentorship, yet those very same sr. devs don't hesitate to poke holes in their code from afar. For example, you see a lot of jr. devs post code and projects here on HN, and they get lambasted for poor practic…

Getting into App Academy was already a huge filter he passed. I say this as a junior dev who was rejected or ignored by many other dev training groups. IRRC, App Academy accepted less than 10% of their applicants.

I can sense your frustration; I feel similarly. I got a degree in Psychology of all things, which makes my self-taught programming skills even less desirable compared to most.

Reason I went to shipping my own code for clients and customers is that they don't care about my degree or programming practices...they only care if I can ship or not.

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#13

Post by atomical »

nhangen wrote: post #5

I also had struggles trying to find work as a jr dev, so eventually I gave up to start building my own software and work on the consulting side. It's strange because I see a lot of jr. guys/gals struggle to find mentorship, yet those very same sr. devs don't hesitate to poke holes in their code from afar. For example, you see a lot of jr. devs post code and projects here on HN, and they get lambasted for poor practic…

Poking holes in your code is mentorship. If you have some ego about lines of code you wrote you aren't going to be happy with a career as a developer because over time everything is slowly tweaked and rewritten.

I don't know what a 'poor practice' is though. Getting something out the door is key at most places. You need to get most of it right though.

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#14

Post by atomical »

caphill wrote: post #2

I've been trying my hardest to find a Junior position. When I finally do find something that says "Junior" they want 4+ years of experience and expert level in everything or it's no where near me and they don't hire remote. I've taken a break on freelancing for 3months to finish some personal projects I'm hoping that will get me something. /fingerscrossed

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to go directly to the decision maker. Call them if you have to. Make up some excuse to talk to them on the phone. Tell them your e-mail bounced but you really like what they are doing and give them a short summary of who you are.

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#16

Post by mahmud »

avolcano wrote: post #10

Gotta say, as a sophomore who's been debating dropping out college, that these junior positions exist at all is encouraging. I always thought my trajectory would be to go to my current school, transfer to a better one, get some good internships, and graduate with a CS degree. But my grades aren't where they need to be, so I probably won't be able to transfer to a good school. Honestly I've been concerned whether or n…

You have no grasp on theory, your grades are bad and you want to drop out?

Don't drink the Kool-Aid, stay in school. Use Coursera and other available resources to augment your university education.

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#17

Post by batgaijin »

ninetax wrote: post #11
avolcano wrote: post #10

Gotta say, as a sophomore who's been debating dropping out college, that these junior positions exist at all is encouraging. I always thought my trajectory would be to go to my current school, transfer to a better one, get some good internships, and graduate with a CS degree. But my grades aren't where they need to be, so I probably won't be able to transfer to a good school. Honestly I've been concerned whether or n…

We are really fortunate that CS skills are in such high demand. That this is even an option is pretty amazing. However, the day may come when the market turns down and the thing that makes an employer hire the next guy and not you is a piece of paper that says he stuck it out in college. Good luck whatever you do!

If you are a good programmer and get turned away for that reason, thank yourself for that bit of luck.

I went through college, learned dittily squat when it comes to cs, and now I'm playing catch-up hardcore with js/functional programming/kernel hacking/everything.

Autodidacts rule the world today, and they will only continue to become more influential. Nobody can push you harder than you can push yourself.

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#18

Post by hnriot »

atomical wrote: post #14
caphill wrote: post #2

I've been trying my hardest to find a Junior position. When I finally do find something that says "Junior" they want 4+ years of experience and expert level in everything or it's no where near me and they don't hire remote. I've taken a break on freelancing for 3months to finish some personal projects I'm hoping that will get me something. /fingerscrossed

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to go directly to the decision maker. Call them if you have to. Make up some excuse to talk to them on the phone. Tell them your e-mail bounced but you really like what they are doing and give them a short summary of who you are.

No, this is terrible advice. Companies have hr and recruiters for a reason, if you jump over them it just shows you're pushy and impatient. If someone calls me and tells me their email bounced I'd immediately think they were lame. Seriously? "Did you get my message?" Is circa 2001. These days if an email bounces you go back and read sent it properly with th right address. Emails don't bounce on their own. When I lost a job posting I expect the candidates to be screened by the recruiter. If a candidate calls me I'd just put them in touch with the recruiter.

Maybe others like this pushy attitude but it wouldn't work in my company.

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#19

Post by arikrak »

caphill wrote: post #2

I've been trying my hardest to find a Junior position. When I finally do find something that says "Junior" they want 4+ years of experience and expert level in everything or it's no where near me and they don't hire remote. I've taken a break on freelancing for 3months to finish some personal projects I'm hoping that will get me something. /fingerscrossed

It would be simpler if there was a system that ranked job-seekers by aptitude and experience and then they could apply to companies that were matches. E.g. Google would only look at people who were in the 99.9th percentile while small-boring company would have to be less picky.

Re: How To Become An Apprentice Developer

#20

Post by atomical »

hnriot wrote: post #18
atomical wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to go directly to the decision maker. Call them if you have to. Make up some excuse to talk to them on the phone. Tell them your e-mail bounced but you really like what they are doing and give them a short summary of who you are.

No, this is terrible advice. Companies have hr and recruiters for a reason, if you jump over them it just shows you're pushy and impatient. If someone calls me and tells me their email bounced I'd immediately think they were lame. Seriously? "Did you get my message?" Is circa 2001. These days if an email bounces you go back and read sent it properly with th right address. Emails don't bounce on their own. When I lost…

That's a very anti-social view.
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